


Signed, Lancer

by YetAnotherPersona



Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Neglect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:42:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26897629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YetAnotherPersona/pseuds/YetAnotherPersona
Summary: Lancer's Dad is a busy man - too busy to listen to his son prattle on about his adventures all day. Fortunately, Lancer has a solution that's sure to work out for everyone.
Relationships: King of Spades & Lancer (Deltarune), Lancer & Susie (Deltarune)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 37





	Signed, Lancer

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is based on a prompt from [Spaghett](https://aminoapps.com/c/undertale/page/user/spaghett/4d2S_5fb3XdprnmDDDZQ52r3wpMNgZZ) over on the Undertale Amino. They asked for something about Lancer, involving him setting up his signs.

_(Enemies ahead! You’re gonna die!)_   
_(SIGNED, LANCER)_

You step back to admire you handiwork. It’s a brilliant sign, if you do say so yourself. It’s brief but to the point, and the exclamation marks really add a punch. A punch that will be reinforced by the thrashing your minions deliver right after the heroes have read it. You grin broadly at the thought.

“Okay, Rudinn One,” you bark, mimicking your Dad’s Scary Boss Voice as best you can. “This is your territory, and you must guard it jealously when the Lightners arrive, do you understand?”

“Yes Sir,” says Rudinn One, drawing their sword and marching to the middle of their turf.

You give a satisfied nod and walk past them to put up a second sign; the one the heroes will read after they’re done getting killed. There’s not really much that needs to be said in such a situation, so you keep it short and sweet.

_(If you’re reading this... I guess you’re dead.)_   
_(SIGNED, LANCER)_

Perfect. You wobble the sign to make sure it’s planted securely, and then move on to the next area, the rest of your assembled minions trailing along behind you. You ought to order them to march in formation like Dad does, but you’re scared they might laugh at you again if you do that. You suppose you can settle for half-hearted obedience.

To the south there’s a dark candy tree – you’re strictly forbidden from picking any, so it only makes sense that the same rule should apply to the heroes. You’re halfway through crafting a sign gloating about the healing properties of the banned candies when a worrying thought strikes you. It’s possible that the heroes will turn out to be the kind of rude people who deliberately disobey your Dad’s rules. Like the other Kings who got locked in the basement. You don’t want to tell that kind of person about something that might help them!

It’s a conundrum, to be sure. You think for a while, and eventually put together the perfect decoy sign.

_(These types of trees DON’T contain an item that can heal you.)_   
_(Whatever you do, DON’T check the tree and use [C] to open your menu!)_   
_(You got it!?)_   
_(SIGNED, LANCER)_

Wonderful. It’s unambiguous, forceful, and employs some delightfully underhanded psychological manipulation. It might actually be your magnum opus, as far as signs are concerned. Your smile grows even wider as you reread it.

This area seems incomplete without one more sign. You place one right in the middle of the field and stare at the blank surface, trying to decide how best to fill it.

“Um... Sir Lancer, Sir?” coughs one of your Hathys after a minute or so, distracting you from your careful deliberation.

“What is it?” you ask.

“The, um, Lightners will probably be here soon,” says the Hathy. “Didn’t the King say you should be ready to intercept them?”

Darn. The Hathy is quite right. “You’re quite right, Hathy,” you say pompously, doing your best to conceal your surprise. You recall Dad’s stern lectures about leadership; it’s no good to let your minions think they’re smarter than you.

There’s a moment’s pause.

“So,” says the Hathy. “Are you going to–”

“Yes!” you say. “I just need to put an explanation for why this sign isn’t done.”

You write a hasty message:

_(Hey, don’t read this sign! It’s a work in progress!)_   
_(SIGNED, LANCER)_

That’ll have to do for now. You’d meant to put up some signs over in the Maze of Death as well, but there’s no time for that – you can do it later, on the fly if need be.

“Stay here,” you order the Hathy, before rushing off to see the legendary heroes for yourself. You’re nervous, but a little excited too – you’ve been waiting a long time for this.

* * *

The first phase of your campaign goes remarkably well, in your humble opinion. You land a few hits on the Lightners shortly after they arrive and then chase them gleefully along the grey cliffs until they reach Castle Town, pelting them with spade-bullets along the way. After that you let up; you don’t want to thrash them too soon, after all. It would be terribly bad manners to defeat the heroes of prophecy before even learning their names. So you retreat, ready your bicycle, and wait on the edge of the courtyard while your rival Prince explains the Legend of Delta Rune.

They’re an interesting pair, these Lightners. The medium-sized blue one looks a bit bland, but the big purple one is fascinating – she’s clearly a trained fighter, and a delightfully grouchy one at that. You look forward to doing battle with her once the Prince is done reciting the Legend. In the meantime, you’re taking the opportunity to go over the letter you’re writing. It’s still a work in progress, much like the last sign you put up, but by the time your adventure is done it’ll be full of exciting tales. You can’t wait to give it to Dad.

The voice of the grouchy purple hero rings across the courtyard, calling your attention back to the present. Sounds like the Legend’s done, which means it’ll be your cue any second now.

“If YOU wanna play pretend with this weirdo... stick around,” you hear The Purple One say. “I’M going to find a way out of here.”

Oh, yikes! She’s about to split the group up. If you want to make your villainous entrance, it’ll have to be RIGHT NOW. You strike the magic match you took from the castle and touch it to the rear wheel of your bike, then ready your most diabolical evil laugh.

“Susie... wait!” cries the Prince, right before you pedal into him at full speed.

* * *

As it turns out, antagonising the heroes is just about the most fun you’ve had in your life. The signs in the Maze of Death are especially fun to write, and you relish the bewilderment on the Rival Prince’s face as he and his blue companion effortlessly walk from one end to the other. They must be so befuddled! Yes, the purple girl does give you a pretty brutal stomping when you try to impede her progress, but that just cements her status as a thoroughly cool and badass opponent.

You barely have time to update your letter in between all the cool adventures. You snatch moments here and there – when you’re waiting for the heroes to arrive at your latest puzzle or fight their way through a gang of enemies – and manage to avoid falling too far behind in your account of the day, but there’s a lot of details you have to skip over. You’ll have to hope your Dad is willing to hear the blow-by-blow in person.

You find yourself warming to the heroes more and more as the day wears on – when Susie switches sides and joins your team, you have trouble concealing just how starstruck you are. And while the bland blue human and the goody-two-shoes Prince aren’t quite as much fun (or anywhere near as good at villainy) they still make for perfectly acceptable playmates. The four of you could probably have a good time hanging out together once you’re done defeating them, provided your Dad lets them stay over.

Maybe you can ask about that in the letter, too.

* * *

Of course, your next meeting with your Dad doesn’t turn out at all how you planned. You try to explain that the Lightners are alive, and that they didn’t actually turn out to be your enemies after all, that nobody needs to fight... but it’s no use. Dad’s rage leaves you frightened and tongue-tied; the stories you wrote into your letter escape your mind when he raises his voice, and coherent thought abandons you altogether when he grabs you by the throat and lifts you in the air. In the end, all you manage to do is run away like a coward while the heroes have him distracted. Some villain you turned out to be.

The letter remains in your pocket, unfinished and unread, until the whole adventure is over.

* * *

Once the Lightners have defeated your Dad and returned to their own world, and once the general commotion of the impromptu rebellion has settled down, you go to your room and take the letter out once more. You reread it, grimacing at your naïve attitude and foolishly optimistic predictions. As if Dad would ever befriend the heroes. As if he’d ever let them stay at the castle. As if he’d ever read a word written to him by his stupid disgrace of a son.

You consider just tearing the letter to pieces and throwing it away, but... there’s so much you wish you could tell your Dad, so many things you know you’re not brave enough to say to his face, even if he is in prison. This letter is your only hope. So you pick up your pen, and stare at the page, and begin painstakingly writing the final paragraphs.

* * *

“Uh, h-hi, Dad.”

Your Dad sits in his cell with his back turned to you. If he hears you, he doesn’t let on.

“Hi,” you repeat. “I came to, uh, visit you. And say some stuff.”

Nothing but silence. You see Dad’s shoulders moving in time with his breaths, but he still doesn’t answer, or turn around.

“I – I can’t say it all now,” you continue. “But I have a letter. I worked on it all day, while I was fighting the Lightners, and, um, I’m really proud of it. And I thought, even if things didn’t go the way we wanted... maybe you could read it. And it might help explain why I did the things I did.”

Silence.

“So I’m gonna... leave it here.” You take out the letter and slide it between the bars. “And if you want to read it, then you can. Okay?”

The letter lands on the floor of the cell with a faint rustle. Dad doesn’t move.

“I need to go now,” you say. “There’s a lot of stuff to deal with now that, uh. Yeah. There’s a lot of stuff.” You turn away from the cell and make for the elevator. “See you later, Dad.”

You risk one glance over your shoulder at the end of the corridor. Dad hasn’t moved, and the letter still lies on the floor where you dropped it. You sigh.

* * *

_Dear Dad,_

_Hi! I’m writing this letter on the morning that the Lightners are supposed to arrive in our Kingdom. I’m gonna use it to keep track of my mission to foil them and stop them from sealing our fountain. At first I was thinking I’d just remember what happens and tell you about it once I’m done, but I know that you’re busy with running the Kingdom and drilling soldiers and stuff. So instead I’m gonna put it all here, then give it to you, then you can read it whenever you have time. If there’s anything that I can’t fit on here, I’ll tell Lesser Dad and he can fill you in later._

_So yeah! I just got done putting up a bunch of signs in the field, and now I’m waiting at the grey cliffs for the Lightners to arrive. It’s kinda spooky out here. I hope they show up soon._

_~_

_Okay I’m writing this a bit later and guess what! I fought the Lightners!!! It was so awesome, I rode my bike into the fake Prince and everything. I got hungry and had to stop halfway through to go and fill up on salsa, but I’m gonna thrash them properly later. Just gotta finish these Maze of Death signs (I ran out of time earlier)._

_~_

_Aaand it’s even later now! So the purple one (she’s called Susie) kinda ended up kicking my ass the second time we fought, so I had to let her past. But the good news is that the flat blue human and the weird toothpaste boy are both pretty soft. They mostly just give me tips on how to assemble better combat teams and that kinda thing. I didn’t know having enemies could be so fun! Or so educational. Maybe later I can show you some new team compositions I made using their advice._

_At the moment I’m stuck at the Great Board, because there’s a checker on the penultimate row who’s about to get promoted. Penultimate is a new word I just learned yesterday, by the way. Lesser Dad taught it to me! It means the second-to-last of something. So like, I could say we’re down to the penultimate biscuit in the castle pantry (but that’s not true, there’s still three left)!_

_So yeah, it’s kinda inconvenient that I’m stuck on the board right now, but I’m not too worried. The heroes will be here soon, and they always think of ways to get around things like this. So I’ll just watch what they do and copy it, haha._

_~_

_Hi Dad! It’s been a while since I wrote in this letter, and things have changed a whole lot! I’m not actually fighting with the heroes any more. Well, I kind of am. It’s complicated. Basically, one of them (the really cool scary purple one!) switched sides and became a bad guy instead. We lounged about getting fanned by lackeys together, then built a machine and blew it up, then fought the Lightners again and got real close to winning! But then they overwhelmed me with compliments and we ended up just all joining the same double-size team. Everybody wins! I guess you’re gonna find out about this when I bring them to the castle anyhow, but I’m having fun writing this so I figure I might as well keep going._

_We’re getting close to the castle and the heroes want to talk to me, so I’m gonna stop writing here. I’ll probably see you any minute. Excited!_

_~_

_Hi, Dad._

_It’s been a weird day. I wasn’t expecting to have to choose between the Lightners and you, and I don’t know if I made the right choice. But everyone’s still alive, and they might not have been if things had gone the way you originally planned. So I think maybe it was better this way. Or at least, it could be worse._

_I’m sorry that the soldiers put you in the basement, but look on the bright side! At least now you’ll have more time to hang out with me. I’ll make sure to visit you every day, and bring games and stories and stuff, and keep you updated on what’s happening in the kingdom. I know you’re mad about the rebellion and the fact that I didn’t get put in prison, and also that I kind of helped dethrone you, but I promise that I’ll make the troops let you go as soon as I can! It’s just difficult, because a lot of them are mad about how you treated them when you were the only King. But I don’t think you were a bad King! I bet you were the best! But they don’t all see it that way. I hope you understand._

_I really am sorry, Dad. I’m sorry that I act weird, and that I can’t do the things you ask me to do. Maybe if I were a better villain I wouldn’t have ended up liking the Lightners. And maybe if I were a better son I wouldn’t have ended up having to fight you. But I really think Ralsei might be right, and there is a solution that can work for everyone. We haven’t found it yet, but it’s out there. And when we do find it, do you think maybe then you’ll be able to forgive me?_

_I hope so. I miss you, Dad._

_Signed, Lancer._


End file.
